Pentagon to send about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East
Oil prices fell and stocks rose on Wednesday after Donald Trump said he had sent a peace plan to Iran , and that Tehran had agreed it would never obtain a nuclear weapon.
Brent crude fell about 7 per cent to below $100 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near $87.
The US is proposing a month-long ceasefire to discuss terms of a 15-point plan that includes the dismantling of Iran's main nuclear sites, uranium enrichment programme, temporarily ending its ballistic missile programme and reopening the Strait of Hormuz , US and Israeli media reported.
Trump claimed that Iran had already agreed to his biggest demand to stop the war on Tehran.
“They’ve agreed,” he said.
“They will never have a nuclear weapon.
They’ve agreed to that," he said.
Despite Trump's push to end the war, the US is also reportedly preparing to send more troops to the Middle East.
The Pentagon ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to begin moving to the region, The New York Times reported, citing defence officials.
The brigade can send paratroopers and equipment anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
Iran says US and Israel attacked Bushehr nuclear plant again
Iran's atomic energy organisation said the US and Israeli forces attacked its Bushehr nuclear power plant yesterday.
"The American-Zionist enemy has attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant site again," the organisation said in a statement, adding that "a projectile hit inside the enclosure of the Bushehr power plant".
"Initial reports indicate this incident did not cause any financial or technical damage, or human casualty, and the various areas of the power plant are unharmed."
Watch: 'We negotiate with bombs': Pete Hegseth warns Iran
Iran opens Strait of Hormuz for non-hostile ships
Iran says it has opened the Strait of Hormuz for "non-hostile vessels" if they coordinate with Iranian authorities.
The US-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipments of about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas through the strait, causing oil supply disruption.
A note from Iran's foreign minister was sent to the 15-member Security Council and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Sunday, Reuters reported.
"Non-hostile vessels, including those belonging to or associated with other States, may - provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations - benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent Iranian authorities," it read.
India's Reliance buys 5 million barrels of Iranian oil
India's Reliance Industries has purchased 5 million barrels of Iranian crude, days after the US temporarily removed sanctions on the oil, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The operator of the world's biggest refining complex bought the oil from the National Iranian Oil Co, two of the sources said.
The deal marks India's first purchase of Iranian oil since the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer halted imports from Iran in May 2019, months after Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
The Trump administration on Friday issued a 30-day sanctions waiver for the purchase of Iranian oil already at sea.
The waiver applies to oil loaded on any vessel, including tankers under sanctions, on or before 20 March and discharged by 19 April.
Iran says US is negotiating with itself
The US is negotiating with itself, an Iranian military spokesperson said, a day after US president Donald Trump said Tehran wants to make a deal to end the war in the Middle East.
A 15-point plan aimed at ending the conflict was drafted by Washington and sent to Tehran.
“Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you negotiating with yourself?” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the unified command of Iran's armed forces, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said, taunting the US leadership.
“People like us can never get along with people like you.”
Mr Zolfaqari said US investments and pre-war energy prices would not return as long as Washington does not accept that regional stability is guaranteed by Iranian armed forces.
Palestinians gather around the remnants of an Iranian missile
Israeli strikes kill four in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza killed at least four Palestinians and injured several others, health officials in the Hamas-run strip said.
Flights between Australia and New Zealand cancelled
The Qantas-owned airline Jetstar has announced it is reducing flights between Australia and New Zealand due to the rising cost of jet fuel.
"We have made some temporary changes to our schedule, including due to a rise in jet fuel prices as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and other rising costs," a Jetstar NZ spokesperson said.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank our customers for their understanding."
The airline said at least 12 per cent of services on some flights between Auckland and Sydney, and between Auckland and Brisbane, will be impacted from May.
Israeli strikes kill 12 in Tehran, officials say
At least 12 people were killed in Tehran and 28 others sustained injuries in an “enemy attack” on the residential areas of Varamin, Iranian officials said this morning.
Israel struck the Iranian capital this morning, Israeli military and Iranian media said.
Joint US-Israeli strikes and retaliatory Iranian action
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